Hargis' BYU Visit More Impactful than Expected

Brandon Gurney

01/12/2004

A 6-3, 180 pound, All-California First Team All-American with 11 interceptions last season returned home Sunday morning from his recruiting visit to Provo all but convinced he wanted to be a BYU Cougar.

Instead, Josh Hargis from Palomar Junior College (Calif.), will wait until BYU assistant Brian Mitchell visits him and his parents at home Wednesday, the same day coaches from Wyoming and UNLV are also scheduled to visit.

"I loved my visit there. BYU is, by far, the nicest campus I've ever seen. The facilities are just incredible. The atmosphere, the players, just everything was bad (as in ‘good.')
Hargis, whose mother is Samoan, pulls strong on his Polynesian roots and noted, "There's a lot of uso's (brothers in Samoan) out there. That's a big bonus for me. The uso's showed me a lot of love. It was cool."

In a scheduling mix-up, Hargis said he has inadvertently doubled booked himself for a recruiting visit to Illinois and UNLV next weekend. However, he may skip both trips because "I've got ankle surgery this weekend so I might have to cancel the trips."

Hargis said the best part of his Provo visit was meeting defensive backs coach Brian Mitchell and defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall in separate private sessions.

"They were honest and upfront with me. They didn't hide anything from me. Some coaches would try and hide some stuff from me, but they didn't. They have a wonderful program.

"Mendenhall is a cool guy, a strict coach that gets the work done. It's all business with him and I love that. He got down and dirty" (explaining his possible role and high expectations if he signed with BYU).

Hargis continued that "BYU definitely went up on my list and I can definitely see myself signing there and fitting right in."

He added, however, the door is certainly not closed on other programs actively recruiting him. "I just want to be fair to Illinois. Their coaches have been great. I don't think it's fair to them or to me to decide before taking my official visit there. That was my plan before tripping to BYU. Nothing has changed, although I really liked BYU more than I thought I would – and I was already pretty high on them.

"I got along great with the players who hosted me. The coaches are awesome and the place just has the right feel for me. It seemed like a perfect fit when I was there."